Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Afreet Software Morse Runner

Category: Ham Software/Apps - Other than logging

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Afreet Software Morse Runner
Reviews: 24MSRP: Freeware
Description:
Contest simulator for Windows 95/98/ME/NT4/2000/XP
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.dxatlas.com/MorseRunner/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15244.9
G0RTN Rating: 2005-02-22
Simply the best! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
You remember that Tina Turner song, "Simply The Best". Well, if Tina was singing about CW trainers, this would be what she was singing about. Of course, she wasn't singing about morse trainers, so that's a moot point.

I was using RUFZ and PED as CW speed trainers back in the '90s, and this is simply a generation beyond those. Start the programme and you'll find it sounds like you really are at a radio, operating in a slightly modified version of the WPX CW contest. QSB, QRN, badly behaved pileups, people who try and steal your run frequency and even the dreaded LIDs all feature in the programme. It's certainly helped my ability to cope with big pileups and increased my contest speed by at least 5 words a minute. It's a small, simple programme based on a cut down version of the N1MM logger, and it even works on my steam powered PC!

Better yet, if you use the programme in 'Competion' mode - one solid hour with all features turned on - you can enter an international high score table, competing with other users around the world - a W7 is in the place above me on the table, a UA9 on the place below.

The danger is, if you're a G station with a poor antenna system, this can be more fun than a real contest!

While you can't change contest format, the WPX exchange means you have to get the serial right rather than lazily guessing the zone. It would be nice to be able to crank up the speed beyond 60 wpm as well! There could be a few improvements, but for freeware it doesn't get much better.
AC7FA Rating: 2004-12-07
Now version1.3 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have to agree with N7OR that Morse Runner would be great if you could change the exchange format and change the keyboard messages. I would pay a few bucks for it with just these two enhancements. As of right now, the author says that it is free for the foreseeable future. It is a fun program, maybe the most fun cw trainer I have used.
AH6RH Rating: 2004-11-25
Good trainer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I like it. Has good simulation of HF noise, and allows you to interact with other stations by calling CQ, then answering them with a 5NN xxxx exchange. In single call mode, you handle one call at a time. Great for building up code speed and the "ear" for CW contests. It's a little more than 700 Kbytes and runs on XP just fine, so it's not a strain on the PC.
N7OR Rating: 2004-11-21
Best I've seen since DR DX! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Heard about this one on the N1MM discussion list. It emulates N1MM keystrokes, and therefore is quite interesting to all of us. The audio simulation is what impresses me the most. QRM QRN QSB FLUTTER LIDS PILEUPS or SINGLE callers. A competition mode so you can see how you stack up against other guys by viewing scores online. Move over PED, RUFZ, PILEMANIA, etc. Simulates the WPX format. I would rate it a 5 if:
1. I could choose other contests.
2. I could customize the message memories.
Maybe in the future?
Try it, you'll like it!